Transparency for the purposes of renewal

To Bless You

I had a really good conversation with my sister-in-law yesterday. It was one of those talks where you hung up the phone and felt like life was thrust back into your body. I am so grateful for her.

One of the things we talked about was the value of hardship. As I’ve blogged about, I’ve been going through a hard season: not hardship, but hard in that it’s a discipline walk. The best way I can explain it is with the idea of going to the gym. Not many of us ~LUHV~ going to the gym. And less so if we have personal trainers who could rival football coaches for toughest exhorters of the century. But you do it because when it’s time, IT’S sooooo time.

Well, I got to the point this past weekend that many of us get to during a hard workout. I just wanted to give up. What’s the point of it all? Is it even really worth it? Would it be worth it to do the work if there is no way of getting the desired end goal?

And that’s where this woman of God gave me a shot that snapped my head back into place. I asked: “Really? All this just to strengthen my faith?”

To which she replied: “What do you mean? That’s huge!”

We lose sight of what we’re really here for. I lose sight of what I’m here for. We’ve heard too many spiritual gurus that have fed us lines about do “X” to receive “Y” immediate benefit.

There are no shortcuts to being a stronger person. There are no secret candy land rainbow paths to building better relationships, especially with the God of the Universe.